Mary Berry’s smoked salmon starter is a cold, composed plate of curled smoked salmon, prawns in a homemade cocktail sauce, sliced avocado and tomato, all finished with a mustard dressing. There’s no cooking at all, just 10 to 15 minutes of assembly, and it feeds six as an elegant first course.
She plates these individually in Mary Berry Everyday (2017), and the cocktail sauce is where her version stands apart. Instead of a heavy mayonnaise-based Marie Rose, she mixes crème fraîche with ketchup and hot horseradish, so it’s lighter and sharper against the rich salmon. She built the whole dish to be plated well ahead, which is why she prefers a cold starter for entertaining.
The one thing to get right is the prawns. Berry says to drain them and dry them really well on kitchen paper before they go into the sauce. Wet prawns leak liquid that thins the cocktail sauce into a puddle, so it slides off the lettuce instead of clinging. Two minutes with kitchen paper saves the plate.
Mary Berry Smoked Salmon Starters
Course: Starters, AppetizersCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy6
servings15
minutes320
kcal15
minutesFrom Mary Berry Everyday (2017). A no-cook cold first course built on the plate, with a crème fraîche cocktail sauce and a make-ahead mustard dressing that keeps for days.
Ingredients
- For the plates:
200g (7oz) small cooked peeled prawns
2 ripe avocados, peeled and sliced
juice of ½ lemon
1 x 70g bag of lamb’s lettuce
2 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and sliced into thin strips
6 smoked salmon slices
1 tbsp snipped chives
6 sprigs of dill
- For the cocktail sauce:
4 tbsp crème fraîche
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tsp hot horseradish sauce from a jar
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the dressing:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
90ml (3fl oz) good olive oil
1 tsp sugar
Directions
- Make the sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the cocktail sauce and season with salt and pepper. Drain the prawns and dry really well on kitchen paper before adding to the bowl and stirring in.
- Prep the avocado: Toss the avocado in the lemon juice in a separate bowl.
- Build the plates: Arrange six plates on the table. Put a few lettuce leaves on one side of each plate and a helping of prawns in cocktail sauce on top of the lettuce. Arrange the avocado and tomato slices next to the prawns. Curl a slice of salmon and place next to the avocado and tomato. Sprinkle the chives on top of the prawns and lay a sprig of dill on top of the salmon.
- Dress and serve: Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a bowl or small jug. Drizzle over the tomatoes and avocado before serving.
FAQs
How far ahead can I assemble these?
Berry says you can assemble the plates up to 6 hours ahead and keep them in the fridge, which is the whole reason she loves a cold starter. The dressing goes even further, up to 4 days ahead, stored in a jam jar with a lid and shaken before pouring. Hold the dressing back until just before serving, or the leaves and tomato go limp.
How do I stop the avocado turning brown?
Tossing the slices in lemon juice, as the recipe does, slows the browning by blocking the air that discolours cut avocado. Use properly ripe but firm avocados, since over-soft ones brown faster and won’t slice cleanly. If you’re prepping the full 6 hours ahead, give the avocado an extra squeeze of lemon and tuck it under the salmon so less surface is exposed.
Can I serve it on one big platter instead of individual plates?
Yes, and Berry says so herself in the recipe. Build it the same way on one large sharing platter, layering the lettuce, prawns, avocado, tomato and curled salmon across the board. It’s more relaxed for a buffet, though individual plates look neater for a sit-down dinner, so pick based on the occasion.
What prawns should I buy?
Berry’s advice is to buy the finest cold-water prawns you can, and it makes a real difference here. Cold-water prawns are smaller, sweeter and firmer than warm-water ones, which can be watery and bland in a cold dish like this. Buy them already cooked and peeled to keep this a true no-cook starter.
Can I use shop-bought cocktail sauce to save time?
You can, but you’d lose the lighter, sharper edge that makes Berry’s version work against smoked salmon. Hers takes two minutes to stir together from crème fraîche, ketchup, horseradish and lemon, and it’s less claggy than a jarred Marie Rose. If you’re short on time, at least stir a spoon of horseradish into the shop-bought one to wake it up.
What works as a main course after this?
Keep the main lighter on fish since you’ve already served salmon, so something like a roast chicken or a lamb dish balances the menu. This starter is rich but small, which leaves room for a proper main and pudding. It pairs naturally with her salmon en croûte only if you’re doing an all-fish menu on purpose.
